What Makes a QlikView Developer?

Most programming languages you can go out and learn, but it occurs to me that a QlikView developer is something you have to be. By that I mean that you have to have skills in a large number of areas – and a failing in one can negate brilliance in another. On a number of occasions I have been asked to assist with the recruiting of a QlikView developer and would like to share my thoughts here.

Coding Skills

As this is what some people think the extent of the requirements are it is where I shall start. Solid skills in this area are a must as the QlikView developer needs to code in four or five different languages at practically the same time. You have the load script syntax, SQL statements (in various flavours), QlikView expressions, Set Analysis and then VBA if you require macros or advanced automation. Whilst it is true that a good SQL knowledge will get you through the load script and those with good Excel skills will find no fear in expressions; it is the ability to do all at once that is vital. The discipline to work in a case sensitive environment and vision to devise solutions to problems where the standard methods do not deliver are also essential.

Understanding Data

This seems so obvious that it shouldn’t be necessary to mention. However I have seen many examples of QlikView documents where the data simply hasn’t been understood. Classic mistakes include summing percentages and incorrect chart choice (often a data understanding issue rather than a design one). A degree in maths or statistics is not necessarily required – just a good understanding of (and respect for) the rules of data.

Understanding the Business

For a QlikView document (or suite of documents) to be of maximum use to a business it should present insight from every area of that business. This requires the QlikView developer to have a real understanding of the business and the processes that make it happen. Even if the developer is not the analyst (but in my experience they often are) to translate the requirements into inspired visualizations takes some level of knowledge.

Experience Across Companies

Someone who has been in a job for some time will know that organisation well (ticking the box above) but this can lead to a tendency not to think outside the box. All to often I am asked to replicate existing Crystal or Excel reports for a client as “that is what we always report”. Being able to provide real world examples from how other organisations do things allows organisations to break the mould – allowing business discovery to occur.

Also there is a massive difference in what is important to people in different types of businesses. Only experience in many vertical markets can equip the QlikView developer to know what is likely to be required on any particular dashboard they create.

Best Practices

There are a number of development best practices that can make a massive impact on the performance and usability of a QlikView document. These range from data model design principles, coding standards and interface design rules. The QlikView developer needs to keep up with all these best practices in order to stay on top of their game.

The Ability to Ask

This again sounds like an obvious one – but again I think it is worthy of note. Often the requirements that are given to the developer for a QlikView document are sparse. I have been given little more than a database connection string to use on occasion. Having built many solutions gives you an idea of the sort of thing people are likely to want to see – but it easy to assume wrong. The only way to get things right is to sit the main sponsors down with pad of paper or flip-chart and ask them what it is that they need to achieve.

People Skills

This therefore means that as the person coding a dashboard you also need people skills. Not always the first thing you associate with someone building IT solutions. However, to win the trust of the IT department and to challenge the assumptions of the finance director requires just that. A typical QlikView project should involve people from many areas of a business, and the person doing the build is often required to be the lynch-pin between these individuals.

Conclusion

So to sum up, the QlikView Developer has to be someone that possesses many different skills – and knows when to apply each of them. Added to what I have laid out above there are also those skills required in just about any role these days – the ability to work under pressure and to insane deadlines.

It sounds like a pretty tall order – but it is a challenge that us QlikView developers love to try and meet on a daily basis.

20 Comments

This is really true as a Qlikview developer Myself I found that these skills are required for a project success. I have been a Commerce graduate with Masters degree in Computer applications and I found this educational background of mine really helpful in executing such projects. I have been into BI from the last 3 years and got real exposure working in Major locations of India .

If you are new to qlikview developer, don’t get worried about this long list of desired qualities. After reading this article, i see that i have most of the qualities in me(some of which have come in time) and not a failure as a qlikview developer. i didn’t notice that i have those impotant qualities in me, so i am happy to know that(thanks Steve). So to make a point to new developers : if you don’t have all of them, not to worry, they would come in time if you have the patience and zeal to learn and succeed.

Many thanks for the comments. Just to clarify, I am certainly not wanting to put anyone off picking up QlikView as a development tool – far from it! It is an intuitive tool and it can be learnt by anyone who has the time to put into it. From here you can get value and insight from QlikView in a relatively short space of time. There is also a lot of help on hand from online resources such as QlikCommunity.

Some of the ‘soft’ skills though can not really be learnt from a tutorial.

I is indeed nice article as well as the second part of Steve’s reply. And would like to say thanks to tresesco also to clarify the situation for the beginners and motivate them as well as. I would like to see more article like this.

Nice article.
A point to add is that Qlikview development consists of two different disciplines – scripting and visual design. Actually, if you look at the training offered by QV they separate these topics, and I suspect that they initially wanted a market to develop where there were pure scriptors and then pure designers.
Whilst a QV developer needs both skills – it is almost always the case that developers are either stronger in scripting or design ….. but not both.
Many developers have moved into QV after being SQL database people on a BI project. This type of developer is typically stronger in scripting that the visual front end. The opposite is from developers who come from the business side of the BI industry – they have a strong focus on charting and dashboard design etc.
It is important to consider that as a developer, you naturally gravitate to what you know and what you are good at. The result is that many developers who are strong at scripting keep developing their scripting down to a fine art and become increasingly weaker (relatively) in the front end. Likewise, there are many visual artists who keep on working away on the front end and don’t develop their scripting.
A very good QV developer needs to know where his / her strengths and weaknesses lie and then to focus on improving their skills to make them an all-rounder.

Hi Hamish, thanks for your thoughts on this topic. I personally feel that totally inspired design doesn’t just take a business user who likes charts but someone who has come from a pure design or interface background. Enticing then into the world of data is the tricky part. A good design doesn’t need to be flashy though – sometimes simple is best. See my post on QlikView design for some pointers and a video on some ways to improve the look of your QlikView apps.

We can deliver the BI application not a BI solution by just having coding skill as a developer. If we have to deliver a solution than one need to possess these skills and developers should imbibe techno-functional skills over the period of the time to satisfy the end customer by delivering what a customer want rather than what we can deliver to them.